Manchester United 2 - 1 Barcelona

This past weekend, I ventured down to Washington, D.C. to attend the preseason match between Manchester United and FC Barcelona. The match, as you most likely know if you're reading this, ended 2-1 in favor of the Red Devils. But the point of attending a preseason soccer match is not in the hope that your team win (although that's a lovely benefit if it does happen), but rather to see the players you idolize and watch your team play in person.

Having had the benefit of watching Barcelona play in Málaga in 2009, getting to a preseason fixture like this is something of luxury. Nevertheless, for those of us European soccer fans in the United States, the opportunity to watch your team play only comes along every so often, and I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity.

In all honesty, the match was a little bit lackluster. The temperature in DC was brutally hot, and it being early in the season, especially for the Barcelona players (who started two weeks after the United players), the players looked a little bit tired at times. Nani was quite lively for United, scoring the first goal from what appeared to be an offside position, although admittedly I haven't seen any replays. When I asked the 10-year-old Spanish-speaking kid next to me wearing a Barcelona jersey if Nani was indeed offside, he rolled his eyes as if to say "you're wearing a Barcelona jersey too, of course he was offside," as he responded with an enthusiastic "Sí!"

For Barcelona, Thiago looked to be the best player on the pitch. Admittedly, Barcelona were without a number of their best players, with Mascherano, Alves, and Messi all still resting after Copa América, and Puyol, Piqué, and Xavi not dressed for the match. Iniesta looked good, and he ran the Barcelona offense quite well. His direction was evident even to my relatively soccer-ignorant father, who noted that United didn't have a single player bossing the attack the way Barcelona did. Thiago was livelier than Iniesta, however, and it was fitting that he got the equalizer - a lovely shot from just outside the box that sailed into the top right corner, past his stationary Spain-U21 teammate David de Gea.

As the benches emptied and the reserves got their chance, the Barcelona defense gifted the ball to Tom Cleverley who had to do very little to put Michael Owen clean through on goal. Owen, miraculously finished well to put United ahead, but made up for the unusually clean finish with a candidate for miss of the century a few minutes later. Being a Liverpool fan meant that watching Owen, a man who has traitor status on Merseyside, miss was one of the highlights of the match.

The referee was unusually involved in the match, awarding a number of fouls, but everyone realized it was a friendly about midway through the second half when Jonathan dos Santos, deputizing at right back while Alves is still on holiday, brought down Welback badly. In any competitive fixture the foul certainly would have elicited a second yellow card, but the referee merely had stern words with Jonathan and that was that.

The only other item of note from the game was Barcelona substitute Carlos Carmona, who looked quite lively for the duration of his time on the pitch.

One of the nice parallels for me in witnessing this match was that I had seen the same fixture nine years ago at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia - the first ever sporting event in that venue. What a difference a half-decade of world dominance makes for Barcelona! Nine years ago, when Barcelona scored (a beautiful chipped ball from Ronaldinho for Patrick Kluivert who smashed home a header), the only other Barcelona fan anywhere near me was an enormous guy sitting about three rows behind me, who reached over several people to wring my hand in celebration after the goal. The makeup of the fans in that game was probably about 85% in favor of United. At Fed Ex Field on Saturday, the breakdown was closer to 50-50, and I had the fortune of sitting in a predominantly pro-Barca section.

To be part of such a festive atmosphere was truly wonderful, in spite of the heat. Fed Ex Field proved to be a worthy venue for such a historic fixture; it is not common that the Champions League finalists meet again before the start of the next season. The stadium employees were friendly and accommodating, and the atmosphere created by the fans was lively indeed.

Final assessment: United look an excellent team and must be favorites for another Premier League title. It's still too early in the season to judge much about the Barcelona side. After watching this game, one can only wonder why in the world they are pursuing Cesc Fabregas. Quite frankly, Thiago looks the better player, and he's younger. He made United's defense look downright silly at times, and that's arguably the best defense in the world. Look for both of these teams to go deep into the Champions League; another final between the two would be a dream come true for fans around the world.

Jurgen Klinsmann to Replace Bob Bradley

A brief update on the position of USMNT head coach which I wrote about yesterday upon hearing the news that Bob Bradley had been relieved of his duties:

Jurgen Klinsmann has been named as Bob Bradley's successor today. Yesterday I gave three skills that I thought absolutely imperative to any new head coach: elite-level experience, tactical nous, and the ability to accurately assess skill levels of players.

Regarding the first of these, elite-level experience, Klinsmann more than fits the bill. Not only was he a world-class player in four elite leagues for a decade and a half, he also managed the German national team to a World Cup semifinal (and eventual third place) on home soil in 2006. Bruce Arena coached the USMNT to a solitary point that year. Klinsmann, then, has far more experience at the highest level than any head coach in recent history.

With respect to the second qualification, tactical nous, Klinsmann's resume is a little more unclear. It's been written in a number of places that Klinsmann's assistant with the German national team in 2006, Joachim Low (now head coach), was the man primarily responsible for the brilliant tactics played by Germany in that tournament that saw them go so deep into the knockout stages. Nobody had been expecting Germany to progress particularly far in the tournament, but they played brilliantly. The fact that Low has had such immediate success (Euro 2008 finals, World Cup 2010 semifinal - lost to champions Spain in both competitions), has lead to even more speculation that it was he, not Klinsmann who was the mastermind of the 2006 team.

Finally, the third skill set I deemed imperative was being a capable judge of talent. Although Klinsmann's ability to judge talent hasn't ever been tested in the way it will coaching the USMNT, he compensates for this unknown with the fact that he was the only foreign head coach on the market who has significant experience in American soccer. Klinsmann has lived int he US for some time, and has been consulting with Toronto F.C. in MLS. Klinsmann's additional experience in American soccer does give him that added edge.

But Klinsmann possesses another skill in great abundance that I think may result in his success as head coach of the USMNT: Klinsmann is an excellent motivator. He consistently gets the best out of his players, something that many, myself included, felt Bob Bradley failed to do with alarming consistency. Bradley never seemed to be much of a disciplinarian and Klinsmann may be stricter, but he is also, undoubtedly more motivational. Nobody could possibly have less charisma than Bob Bradley and fans always got the sense that his lack of charisma probably accounted for some less than fully motivated displays by the team. Again, this is an area in which Klinsmann will not have such problems.

In many ways, Klinsmann's appointment was inevitable. If the rumors are to be believed, Sunil Gulati, president of the USSF, had approached Klinsmann twice previously, first in 2006 when Bob Bradley was hired, and again when Bob Bradley signed a new contract just last year. Klinsmann was always going to be Gulati's man. Time will tell if the fact that Gulati got him was actually a good thing for American soccer.

Bob Bradley Fired by USSF

Fans of the US Men's National Team (USMNT) have long been divided over the performance of coach Bob Bradley. Some think he's one of the best coaches the team has ever had, while others think he's not worth the Gatorade the team drinks during one friendly match. His departure offers us the opportunity to take that issue in more depth and to think about what the team needs to move forward and be successful during the next World Cup cycle.

Bob Bradley has presided over a number of thrilling moments for the USMNT over the last five years. Starting with the Gold Cup victory over Mexico in 2007, which qualified the US for the 2009 Confederations' Cup, Bradley produced a series of good results. The Confederations' Cup looked all but lost in the group stage until the US pulled out a miraculous 3-0 victory against Egypt in the last match to proceed on goal difference. Then in the knockout stages, the US upset world number one Spain 2-0 to reach the final against Brazil. In the final, the US took a 2-0 lead in at the break, but a bit of bad luck saw Luis Fabiano equalize less than a minute into the second half and the Americans would eventually capitulate 3-2. It was a wonderful run, and even the group stage game against Italy (which the US lost 3-1) had seen them up for a period of time.

And the USMNT's performance wasn't too shabby at the World Cup this past year either. They did well to squeak out a draw against number one seed England, and then effectively won the game against Slovenia, although the final scoreline read 2-2 courtesy of hallucinating referee Koman Coulibaly. And who could possibly forget the win against Algeria? It must rank among the best ever moments in USMNT history.

But the World Cup was marred by allowing a succession of early goals. Steven Gerrard scored inside 10 minutes for England, the Slovenians scored an early goal, Algeria hit the woodwork early on, and Ghana scored inside ten minutes in both regular time and extra-time. Ricardo Clark never played well (and was the man primarily responsible for the early goals from England and Ghana), yet continued to play throughout the tournament in spite of Maurice Edu's consistently solid play.

Bob Bradley provided similarly perplexing roster selections at this year's Gold Cup, deciding to bring Landon Donovan off the bench for a series of knockout stage games. Jermaine Jones was preferred alongside Michael Bradley in the middle of the park which meant that again, Maurice Edu was left off the pitch. The US promptly blew a two-goal lead in the final against Mexico. When the US went up 2-0, Bradley should have realized that it was a lead that should have been defended. Both US goals went against the run of play, but instead of making defensive substitutions he made attacking ones.

All of this points to a mixed track record for Bradley at the helm of the USMNT. Some players have performed well - Clint Dempsey, Steve Cherundolo, son Michael Bradley, and Carlos Bocanegra have been quite consistent under coach Bob Bradley, but others who promised much have fizzled out. That list includes Jozy Altidore, Maurice Edu (due to lack of opportunities), Stuart Holden (due to injuries), Benny Feilhaber, Oguchi Onyewu, and most famously, Freddy Adu.

So what does the USMNT need in a new head coach?

1) Elite level experience. The US hasn't had a coach who has been well-known anywhere but the United States in recent memory and it's time for that to change. Bradley and Bruce Arena, his predecessor, both had long histories in US soccer, but neither had the boatloads of experience abroad required to be highly successful at that level. With a majority of the starting 11 playing overseas and the demands being more than regional success, an international coach is the only option. The third reason is that there isn't a qualified American candidate.

2) A tactician. The USMNT has capable players. Everyone in the soccer media is talking about it as a transition time for the USMNT, but that seems a little bit premature. Clint Dempsey will be 31 at the next World Cup, Donovan 32, and Tim Howard 35. They should still all be excellent players then. The lackluster performances of the last year have not entirely been due to lack of talent; some of the blame must be in the tactics the US has employed. Someone who can bring tactical nous and discipline to a squad of good players, then, is a must.

3) A good judge of talent. So many players have been used by the USMNT during Bob Bradley's tenure as head coach that any new coach will certainly have to be aware of the plethora of options available. Bradley has undoubtedly left out many good players and, as is clearly the case, included some who are not up to par.

I think a more interesting question is how the USSF will go about hiring a new head coach. Their decisions have frequently been more about making money than about the success of the team on the pitch. Scheduling the Gold Cup Final, a game always likely to pit the US against arch-rivals Mexico, in Pasadena, CA, among the regions of the country most highly populated by Mexican-Americans is only the latest in a long line of such financial decisions. Back in 1985, during qualifying for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, the US needed only a draw against Costa Rica to progress to the final round of qualifying. Nevertheless the USSF scheduled the game in an area densely populated by Costa Rican-Americans and marketed the game to them. The US lost 1-0 and didn't qualify for the World Cup. That is to say, I have my doubts that the USSF will go out and hire a top tier coach because a top tier coach will coast top tier money, and that's money the USSF has never been ready to part with. We'll know soon enough, I'm sure.

MLS All-Star Game Massacre

100 years from now, they'll call this game The Red Bull Arena Massacre. Well actually, they probably won't. Nobody will remember the game because it was among the most forgettable one-sided victories I've seen. I suppose there's only so much you can expect from an All-Star game, but I was still left disappointed.

The goals for Manchester United were good goals, especially the first two. Berbatov had to rely on a bit of luck for the third and the fourth came courtesy of a deflection. Although Manchester United didn't dominate the first half, they certainly did the second, even after a number of their best players left the pitch around the sixty minute mark. Rooney, Anderson, and Park looked the best players out there in the first half, with the only player worthy of remark for MLS was David Beckham, for his wonderful distribution.

The game served to highlight just how far behind world class football the MLS really is. When Tim Ream, a player benched by the US National team during the Gold Cup for his lousy play against teams like Panama and Grenada, gets the start at center-back, you know things are bad. Don't get me wrong, Ream performs extremely well in MLS, but the fact that he is the best central defender in the league is a sad testament to the league's talent.

Juan Agudelo had a nice cameo off the bench, looking somewhat dangerous, which does say something about his potential to be a dangerous forward for the USMNT for a long time to come, but he's still young, and anything could happen. Shalrie Joseph, Kyle Beckerman and Brad Davis were the only other players who stood out at all for the MLS All-Stars.

It was a long night for the MLS players, but the experience of playing against Manchester United is one which will not soon be forgotten. It was a wonderful opportunity, but unfortunately left the MLS fans disillusioned and disappointed. It was particularly disappointing to see so many Americans in the crowd cheering for Manchester United. Even if the MLS All-Stars had been playing against Liverpool or Barcelona, I would have been rooting for them to score goals and play good soccer, even to win!

I'll have a post for everyone after my trip to the rematch of the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United this weekend.

2011 Tour de France Awards

These awards are compiled after thoughtful consideration by the author. They are influenced by the overall results of all of the various competitions and individual stage results, in addition to a subjective component.

Best Teams. It seems unclear how this should be measured, but accomplishing the goals set out for the team at the beginning of the Tour seems a good tool for assessment.

1) Garmin-Cervelo: Won four stages, the overall team competition, and placed a rider in the top 10 overall. They also had the yellow jersey for a week. It's difficult to ask for much more than that.

2) BMC: They did only one thing, but that one thing was winning the Tour de France.

3) HTC-Highroad: They didn't manage to have either Peter Velits or Tony Martin challenge for a high overall place, but they did win six stages, 5 with Mark Cavendish and 1 with Martin.

4) Europcar: They're higher up than they might otherwise be because they're a small team with a small budget, which they exceeded to the maximum. 10 days in yellow, winning the stage to Alpe d'Huez, and 4th and 11th overall. A good Tour by almost anyone's standards.

5) Leopard-Trek: They finished with two men on the podium and went one-two on the queen stage. They also had the yellow jersey for a day, and all nine riders finished the race.

6) Omega-Pharma-Lotto: Even without team captain Jurgen van den Broeck, the team managed three stage wins, a day in the yellow jersey, and runs in both the king of the mountains and green points jerseys. The unknown Jelle Vanendert, sprinter Andre Greipel, and classics specialist Philippe Gilbert all did their part.

Five worst teams.

22) Saur-Sojasur: They were totally anonymous. They made a few breaks, but never came close to winning anything. The fact that Jerome Coppel made the top 15 overall is something of an enigma because he was never with the leaders on the climbs, so it's not totally clear how he managed such a high finish.

21) Radioshack: They had the worst luck of any team in recent Tour memory, losing four riders (including three contenders for the podium) in the first week and a half.

20) Astana: Astana also had a bit of bad luck, with Vinokourov crashing out early on, but they accomplished nothing without him.

19) Quick-Step: Kevin de Weert did finish in the top 15, but that was the only success for Quick-Step. Sprinters Tom Boonen and Gert Steegmans both withdrew, but even before they withdrew, they hadn't challenged for stage wins.

18) Katusha: Mikhail Ignatyev had a good crack at winning out of a breakaway one day, but that was as close as they came to accomplishing anything of note.

Best individual rider performances:

1) Thomas Voeckler: He played the role of The-Little-Frenchman-Who-Could to perfection.

2) Cadel Evans: He did that little thing called winning the race.

3) Andy Schleck: Inspired fans with an old-attack that almost won the Tour.

4) Mark Cavendish: 5 stage wins gets you on this list.

5) Thor Hushovd: 2 individual stage wins plus the team time trial and a week in yellow... good Tour, Thor.

Most enigmatic riders:

1) Jerome Coppel: Nobody is quite sure how he made the top 15.

2) J. J. Rojas: Nobody is quite sure how he was only 15 points back of Cavendish riding onto the Champs-Elysees.

3) Thomas Voeckler: Why have we never seen this before?

4) Jelle Vanendert: Where did he come from in the Pyrenees, and where did he disappear to in the Alps?

5) Vladimir Karpets: Did he knock Contador off the road or was it an accident? And why didn't he do better overall?

Award for effort most resembling a Greek god:

1) Thomas Voeckler: Any man who will hurt himself that much for a yellow jersey deserves his own masseur; fortunately Voeckler has one.

2) Andy Schleck: The attack to the Galibier will live on in Tour legend for some time to come.

3) Cadel Evans: Clawing back two minutes on the best climber in the world on the way up to the highest summit finish in Tour de France history is no small feat. To ride the best time trial of your life two days later is even more impressive, and it might just win you the Tour.

Riders to look for in the future:

1) Andy Schleck: This was the first year he was ineligible for the best young rider competition. He's still got a long career ahead of him, and everyone will be surprised if that career ends without a Tour de France victory.

2) Pierre Roland: Every young French rider who can climb is touted as the next Bernard Hinault these days, but Rolland IS the first Frenchman to win at Alpe d'Huez since Hinault did 25 years ago. Maybe, just maybe he's the real deal. Of course if he's not, there's always

3, 4) Jerome Coppel and/or Arnold Jeannesson: Both finished in the top 15, and both are young Frenchmen.

5) Rein Taaramae: Not too many Estonians have ridden the Tour de France, but Rein Taaramae looks like he might just threaten for overall victory some day. He finished 12th this year, and he looked good throughout the race.

The "Thanks-Now-Please-Leave-Award" for riders who should retire:

Ivan Basso: Congratulations on your top 10, now please go. Will be 35 by next year's Tour.

Andreas Kloden: Will be 37 by next year's Tour.

Tom Boonen: Just doesn't seem to have it anymore, and will be 32 by next year's Tour - a bit old for a sprinter.

Cadel Evans: You've soured the Tour with your surly personality for long enough. Now that you've won the thing, please just go back to rural Australia and leave the rest of the cycling world alone.

Most invisible rider award (I didn't hear these riders mentioned once in 21 days of racing):

Romain Zingle (Cofidis)

Jemerie Galland (Saur-Sojasur)

Alessandro Vanotti (Liquigas)

Brian Vandborg (Saxo-Bank Sunguard)

The seven riders on Lampre who aren't Damiano Cunego or Alessandro Petacchi, the latter of whom did nothing but was still talked about a lot.